Contra-rotating rotors with differential gearing
OwnerGeorge P. Grunerinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A gas turbine power plant has a compressor stage and a turbine stage with an annular combustion stage therebetween. Each of the contra-rotatable compressor rotors is connected to one of the contra-rotatable turbine rotors by an elongated hollow cylindrical shaft concentric with an axially extending fixed shaft to form an integral unit. The units are operably connected by differential gearing mounted on the fixed shaft just in rear of the nose of the engine at the air intake end of the housing.
Claims7
A gas turbine power plant of the type having an elongated casing with an air intake end, a gas discharge end, a centrally located burner chamber, a compression stage between the air intake end and the burner chamber, a turbine stage between the gas discharge end and the burner chamber, a fixed shaft extending axially of said casing from said intake end to said discharge end, said plant characterized by;
- an inner vaned rotor mounted on bearings supported on said shaft for rotation therearound said rotor having outward projecting spaced vanes in said compression stage and in said turbine stage rotatable as a unit;
- an outer vaned rotor mounted on bearings supported on said shaft for rotation therearound, said rotor having inward projecting spaced vanes in said compression stage and in said turbine stage rotatable as a unit;
- the vanes of said inner rotor alternating with the vanes of said outer rotor and being interdigited therewith and differential gear means operably connecting said inner vaned rotor to said outer vaned rotor to rotate in mutually opposite angular directions around said fixed shaft.
A multi-stage, axial flow, power plant having an elongated causing containing a compressor stage with two contra-rotatable compressor rotors, at the intake end thereof, a gas turbine stage with two contra-rotatable rotors at the discharge end thereof and an annular burner chamber intermediate of said stages;
- the vanes of said rotors being interdigitated;
- each turbine rotor being connected to one of said compressor rotors by an integral cylindrical hollow tube extending axially of said housing inside of said annular burner chamber to form a pair of contra-rotating compressor turbine rotor units;
- and differential gear means operably connecting one said unit to the other for dividing the driving force equally between them and permitting one unit to revolve at the same speed as the other but in the opposite angular direction.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.